WEIR: IT'S IN OUR HANDS

Burton Albion midfielder Robbie Weir admits Sunday’s win over Southend was as physical expected, but knows not to get too carried away ahead of Saturday’s second leg.

Weir was Man of the Match in the 1-0 win, and says his team-mates stood up to the task well.

“It was a real battle and we were expecting that. We didn’t want them to come and bully us on our turf and it was important that we stood up today.

“They’re a big team and we’re quite small so it was important for us to win tackles and be strong in the air, and that’s what we did.

“There weren’t many chances. In the first half we created a lot more and there were a couple that with that bit of cutting edge it could have been more, but we’re happy to take an advantage down there,” said Weir.

A big talking point from Sunday’s game was the sending off of Ian Sharps for two bookable offences, and Weir is confident that whoever replaces the Player of the Season will be able to do the job.

“Some of the decisions were made, and whether they’re right or wrong he has a split second to make them. Sharpy’s (Ian Sharps) first yellow card hit him in the shoulder, and he’ll be a big miss for us but whoever comes into his place will have to stand up and be counted.

“It’s a changed defence, but the lads are more than capable of stepping in for him. He’s a big character for the team but we have Phil and Shane to come back in, so we now go to Southend and we want to do the same job,” he said.

For the second successive season, Weir and his team are ninety minutes from a Wembley appearance, but the midfielder is remaining focused on the job at hand.

“To be honest it’s one of the biggest games of my career. We had a one goal advantage last season but it will be a different contest when we go down there. We’ve got the lead and we’ll learn from last year and we’ll make sure this week that the lads are all up for it.

“We can’t jump ahead of ourselves. We have a big task next week and it won’t be a walkover. We have an advantage but that doesn’t matter sometimes.

“It (Wembley) goes through your mind, but you can’t think about it too much. We want to learn from last year’s mistakes and I think we’re better prepared. It was very new to us last year but this time we’re much more relaxed. We’ve been in this situation before and it’s in our hands for next week.”